A three-alarm fire engulfed a Bloomfield row house Sunday afternoon and spread to four nearby homes, blanketing the densely populated neighborhood with smoke.
Pittsburgh Assistant Fire Chief Brian Kokkila said no occupants or firefighters were injured in the blaze.
Kokkila said firefighters were dispatched just before 3:30 p.m. to the scene on Penn Avenue across from Allegheny Cemetery and a block from UPMC Children’s Hospital. The blaze is believed to have started at 4546 Penn Ave. before spreading to homes on both sides, Kokkila said.
ALERT: Pittsburgh Fire is in the 4500 block of Penn Ave. for a 3-alarm residential structure fire.
Firefighters are working to ensure all of the residents have been accounted for. That process is ongoing.There are no reported injuries to firefighters or civilians at this time. pic.twitter.com/rE5CaQ4TMe
— Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) March 29, 2026
The fire spread quickly because of high winds and the proximity of the buildings, according to Kokkila. Several of the damaged row homes shared walls and directly touched.
“When we get into a situation with increasing wind speed, that dramatically affects growth, and it can rapidly expand fire,” he said.
Companies arrived on scene quickly, he said. The Pittsburgh Fire Bureau has a station on Penn Avenue and 40th Street, less than a half-mile from the scene. Ultimately, he said about 50 firemen were at the scene.
Kokkila said he could not yet tell whether any of the homes would be total losses, but he said they were “heavily damaged.” He said he expects “10 plus” residents to be displaced.
Among them is Will Howe, 18.
Howe said he noticed something outside his window before realizing flames were shooting from the home next door.
He woke up his napping father, Ed, before grabbing some personal items and fleeing the home.
“We’re just praying it’s all good,” he said.
Jarred Reccek lives in the building where the blaze started.
He said his roommate asked if he smelled smoke before seeing plumes of it pouring into the alley behind the home, Comrie Way.
“It all happened very fast,” he said.
Brady Heefner, 34, said he was returning from a grocery trip when he saw smoke rising near his apartment.
“We saw the smoke and, of course, our hearts were dropping,” he said.
Heefner lives in a building next to those that burned, though he said his home was not damaged.
Rebecca Warner was on her way to Allegheny Cemetery for a walk when she noticed a sweet, smokey smell in the air. She thought it was coming from the kitchen of a nearby restaurant, Apteka. But when she realized what was happening, she ran back to her home across the alleyway from the blaze.
By that time, the homes were fully engulfed in flames. “It’s pretty terrifying,” Warner said.
Just after 5 p.m., Kokkila said crews were still working to knock out the last remnants of the blaze to avoid a rekindling. He said the materials of the house and insulation were very flammable.
“We had deep-seeded fire,” the assistant chief said.
Sunday’s fire comes about two months after another intense blaze in Bloomfield on the 4000 block of Penn Avenue, which also spread to nearby row houses. In December, twin blazes in Bloomfield also displaced more than 20 residents about a half-mile away near West Penn Hospital.
